Fleeting Pixels
by Dexandra
Summary: When Joey Wheeler accepts a position of game tester at KaibaCorp, he finds himself immersed in his own perfect world. As the lines between reality and the virtual world begin to blur, his ties to the real world and his loyalty to his friends come into question, as does his confusing relationship with Seto Kaiba, and his growing infatuation with his new boss's virtual clone.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It was 3:00 am and night still gripped Domino City with desperate hands.

In a few hours the streets would flood, and the empty roads would be filled to burst with cars crawling along like a procession of ants, and at about the speed of it too. But for now, with black skies tinged blue and mist settling against the pavement, the bustling City was silent.

Tucked into a dank, cluttered corner of Domino City, in a street entirely of apartment complexes and run down houses, Joey Wheeler blinked the sting out of his eyes and watched three headlights drift down the road like fireflies.

His cigarette had long ago turned stale, and added to the bitterness souring his tongue with every breath. He hadn't smoked since his gang days, and something about it clenched and twisted at his stomach in what he supposed was guilt, but he'd lost the resolve to cope without the help of a friend. And rather than tugging Yugi or Tristan into his ever growing problems, he decided to revisit his oldest companion. Its advice was the same as ever.

_'Just one more smoke!'_

_'You'all feel better after another one.'_

_'Third time's the charm right?'_

The smoke curled in the air, reaching up and tangling its fingers in the wind that made him shudder in his thin t-shirt and tattered jeans. Tucked between the bottom of the steel railing and the messy brickwork of his balcony, his toes were numbing.

The fireflies approached faster, and their soft globes of light turned harsh and piercing at the first whisper of a motorcycle's rumble. The rumble soon became a roar and the bikes sped past Joey's apartment at what he assumed was three times over the speed limit, their riders maniacally screeching and hooting, dragging his calm away with them.

_'What am I doing? It's 3:00 o'clock in the morning, why am I even up?'_

Growling to himself, he crushed the cigarette against the railing and headed back inside.

It was a stupid question. He knew why he was up.

For the past few months he'd been rising at 3:00 am every morning to get ready for the early shift at work. A street punk like Joey had suffered many defeats, insults and pain in various experiences, but he had to admit, rising early for work then realizing he had nowhere to go felt pretty fucking awful.

Yesterday had been hell on Earth. After he'd lost his job, he'd come home and angrily drained a few beers he fished out of the back of his fridge to take the edge off. He hadn't drank all that much, but he could still feel the inklings of a hangover lingering around his head. It wasn't pain exactly, more like an odd sort of pressure, like hands squeezing at his temples. It circled his head, gently pressing here and there, threatening to dive in and erupt pain in his skull at any second.

_'What now?'_

What now, indeed. It was only a matter of time until his bank account started draining again. He could already feel the hunger. For food, nicotine, or peace of mind, whatever. It would start soon, the minute those numbers started draining it would start. When he thought about it, it had never stopped, really. But since he met Yugi, his life had gotten considerably better and the happiness that consumed him drowned out the hunger until it was merely a whisper in comparison.

But now it had gained control again and rather than a whisper it would be howling, clawing at him, dragging him back to a dark place, a place of desperation that he never wanted to see again.

It was funny, but whenever he imagined the money disappearing, all he saw was that tiny bar of numbers rolling down, sliding out of his grasp like one of those ancient flip alarm clocks. Or like-

_'-like lifepoints.'_

He felt as though some creature had crawled down inside him and was gouging at him from within, scraping blunt fingernails along the pit of his stomach.

_'My lifepoints are draining.'_

He wanted to collapse but his bed wasn't worth collapsing into. The mattress was a piece of trash he'd picked up from some garage sale down the road. Cheap to begin with, any quality it had held at its original purchase had been beaten out of it by its previous owners. How they'd managed this, Joey didn't want to think about. Now, the mattress was nothing more than a lump of padding and broken springs. Other people, less constructive people, would find no worth or use for it, but Joey didn't mind it.

He didn't see it as broken; he saw it as well used. He could sleep almost anywhere, and he could risk sacrificing the utmost comfort to save a few bucks.

As he slumped down in the center of the bed his ass sunk deep, almost to the floor, and he felt the twang of it's broken springs flicking beneath his weight.

Today his well used bed seemed pretty broken.

He wrestled with the rough sheets, burying his face in the pillow and trying to force out every painful thought that drifted through his head like stale smoke.

He ran his fingers through his hair, then grabbing fistfuls and pulled until it stung, like dull, hot needles pricking his scalp. He found the pain comforting in a way; the physicality of it grounded him while all his emotional pain seemed to do was send him flying. He used it to anchor himself, holding on for dear life as his emotions whirled around him like a hurricane, battering his body and threatening to sweep him away.

As he wrenched his fingers out of the blonde mess he could feel oil lingering on them, coating his fingertips dry and damp at the same time. He needed to wash his hair. And shave.

But what for? He had nowhere to go, no one to see.

He eased up onto his shoulders and peered across the room. His cupboard was right across from his bed, and he'd left the door open after angrily flinging his clothes inside it last night. The mirror within peaked out from behind the dark wood, and he caught a glimpse of himself.

Dark bags had collected beneath his eyes and when he squinted they puffed like withered balloons. His hair hung limp and dirty from his head and blonde stubble dotted his cheeks. He looked terrible.

The dull light of the morning was playing tricks on him. As he turned his head, the shadows would manipulate his features. His face would shift and transform as he turned it this way and that, like Serenity's favourite bookmark as a child; a lenticular print of a white horse that galloped back and forth as you twisted the card.

He kept catching glimpses as he turned his head. He tilted his jaw, shadows rising and falling across the plains of his features as he struggled to see it again. When he did he wished he hadn't.

The shadows hollowed out his cheeks and emptied his eyes, twisting his lips into a sneer and carving harsh angles into his jaw. He looked like someone else.

Someone all too familiar.

He was jolted from the startling, sickening resemblance as he angled his head slightly and the shadows retracted, and all of a sudden he was just a hung over kid again, grimacing at his own reflection. He slumped back onto the bed, trying to escape his pallid appearance.

He laid there for what seemed like days, struggling to smother his own emotions and ease back into sleep. The lingering pressure around his head began drilling into his skull and he grimaced at the pain. The dull ticking of his alarm clock filled the room until every tiny click made him flinch.

And as he watched shades of gold and peach seep into the blue-blackness of the sky outside of his balcony, he accepted that there was no way in hell he was getting back to sleep, so he gathered himself up and got out of bed.

He undressed, throwing his clothes into the growing pile occupying the corner of his bathroom, and clambered into his dingy shower. Once the water was flowing, he sunk down onto the floor, resting his throbbing head in his hands and allowing rivulets of hot water to ease the tension from his shoulders.

He went through the rest of his morning wishing he'd stayed there.

After he's washed his hair and shaved, he breathed a sigh of relief when he looked in the mirror and saw himself peering back again. Harsh, stinging spearmint flushed the taste of cigarettes from his mouth, and he got dressed and left the apartment. When he emerged onto the street he was long on his way to feeling like Joey Wheeler again.

* * *

><p><em>Wow, first chapter of my first story. Please review and feel free to message me! More stories and chapters to come. - Dex<em>


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Joey enjoyed walking through Domino in the early hours of the morning.

Something about its emptiness was calming, and the pleasure of the walk was one of the reasons he'd put up with the ridiculous morning shift time for his job.

As a teenager, silence had set his teeth on edge and isolation had terrified him.

Like sealing a lid on a pot of boiling water, peace and quiet, rather than calming him, used to smother him and spark up his irritation.

While he'd thrived on chaos and speed when he was younger, maturity had made partial to peace, and the last few years had forced him to enjoy his own company. Hell, he couldn't remember the last he time he saw Yugi or Tristan.

He remembered the exact date of the last time he saw Tea though. September 20th, when she boarded a plane, laughing and sobbing as though she couldn't decide whether to be euphoric or terrified, for New York. Her dancing had taken her beyond their limiters. Or at least that's what Joey had thought.

He soon found out that Yugi and Tristan's limiters were very different to his.

After Egypt, Yugi hadn't duelled at all, and Joey had known better than to pester him about it.

Yugi had already been struggling to adapt to life without having the Pharaoh present, and Joey could tell. None of them could mistake the dreamy, distant stare he used to slip into when was consoling with Atem. Even after Egypt, he would sometimes drift into the same gaze, only to suddenly blink into awareness, and every time Joey would watch as Yugi's façade of happiness crumbled a little, and he would swallow the comforting words he felt rising in his throat because what the hell did he know?

After the result of Yugi's last duel and the absence of his closest companion, pushing him to take up duelling again would have just been cruel.

Months passed after school had finished, and Yugi began to seem genuinely happy again, so he'd attempted to entice him into it again. It was in that moment that he realised just how good of an actor his friend was as he watched Yugi attempt to explain the intensity of his loss. After choking out a few sentences the façade collapsed entirely as did his friend. It seemed that with the rush of the end of the school year he hadn't had the time to grieve, so he did it right there of the living room floor with Joey's arms around his shoulders struggling to contain the sobs that wracked his body like an earthquake.

As uplifting as Yugi's brave face was, the Pharaoh's absence had gouged a hole in him, and he told Joey that he felt more alone in that moment then he ever had in his whole life, and Joey had tried as hard as he could to relate.

Only now did he understand what it must have been like.

More months passed, and one day Yugi suddenly challenged Joey to a duel.

It had lasted a while, and they'd both been a little rusty, but it sparked something alight in Yugi again, and just like that he was gone.

He flitting from place to place, going wherever his duelling would take him, and with the title of King of Games it was taking him very far. For all Joey knew, he was in Antarctica by now.

He was as enthusiastic as ever about Yugi's duelling, but he missed him, and so had Tristan before he'd gone too.

Tristan just wasn't around. After high school they'd worked together and even lived together for a while but at some point Joey had seen less and less of him each day until he eventually vanished. It had something to do with a girl, Joey was sure of that. Tristan had gushed about her for weeks on end; so often that Joey had eventually learned to tune it out, and as a result he could barely even remember her name. Miko? Miho? Something like that.

Tristan had always been a hopeless romantic. His tendency to "fall in love" wouldn't get on Joey's nerves if he didn't spend hours chewing through Joey's head schmoozing about it as he tried to work meaning into pathetic lovesick crushes sparked by his furious sex drive.

Now, Joey found himself missing Tristan's mindless chatter. Most days now he was surrounded by silence.

He was angry his friends were gone, and at the same time he felt bad because of it. After all, they were chasing their dreams, the things they'd lusted after all through their lives were within their reach and they were all reaching out to grab it. And what was he doing other than getting fired from his piece of crap job and moping around afterwards?

_'Even if they were here, wouldn't I just be holding them back?'_

That sordid creature was back and the unbearable scraping in his stomach was a hell of a lot worse.

His own emotions had always made him uncomfortable, so he usually avoided them. But thanks to this squirming, uneasy sensation rising in his gut, it felt as though his feelings were tugging at him, shouting for acknowledgment, and if he had to interpret this he'd probably call it a mix between loneliness and resentment. Possibly even a little envy.

The last time he could remember feeling like this was when the divorce had torn his family apart and Serenity had been snatched from his reach.

Was that the source of his desperation? Had his friends been snatched away?

No of course they hadn't. They'd just…

Left.

'_Oh God…'_

He changed his mind. He didn't want to be here. Out here all alone with his emotions and his stupidity and that thing lurking within him tearing him to pieces.

He decided to go back home. It felt childish and stupid, like he was surrendering to an invisible perpetrator, but he couldn't stay out here.

As he was crossing the road he calmed himself. A new destination to work towards made him feel a little better by pushing his thoughts back, but he could feel his emotions whirling around him again, and knew they would sweep him away eventually.

_'I'll be alone at home too.'_

He paused and contemplated it. Soon the buzz would start in Domino as rush hour came clamouring in. He could get a coffee, maybe something for breakfast, and perhaps the savoury grease of whatever cheap crap he was willing to eat would smother his loneliness for a while.

But at the same time, watching so many people rushing to work would wear down on him, and he knew from experience that he never felt lonelier than when he was surrounded by strangers.

But did he really want to lock himself up in his room like some hormonal teenager? Those years had passed (or at least he hoped they had) and the piles of unwashed dishes and rumpled clothes tossed into darkened corners reminded him of his solitude, and even the odour of the apartment now set him on edge, as he'd just recently polluted it with the stench of cigarettes.

A dark, lonely apartment stinking of tobacco. It stirred angry memories within him from a dark place, memories he could do without.

The honk of a car horn shattered the silence and made him jump out of his skin. Heart pounding, it occurred to him that he was still standing in the middle of the road, and he flapped his hand at the car in a gesture that was both irritated and sheepish as he stumbled to the other side.

_'What the hell? Who else could be up this earl-'_

As he glanced back at the vehicle and watched it glide away it occurred to him just how long the sleek, black car was. He realised it was a limo and turned to march away in the opposite direction as fast as he could, reigning in his urge to sprint and trying to smother the frantic fight or flight response the limo's appearance had ignited in him for the first time in a while. In his sombre mood the last thing he needed was a run-in with the great egomaniacal ass, Seto Kaiba.

As he heard the limo continue on behind him, he settled his nerves, reassuring himself he'd missed whatever potential for confrontation that had caused him to panic earlier. He savoured the calm for a few seconds before the sound of the limo's breaks screeching tore through him like a bullet and dread pooled in his stomach as he heard a car door open. He was in no way prepared for battle, and in his mood Kaiba's usual snide insults would rip him to pieces.

"Joey! Hey! Hey Joey wait up!"

He braked as well as a high, raspy voice broke the silence. He knew that voice. He had a second to turn before a ball of adolescent muscle slammed into him and sent him stumbling to avoid tumbling over.

"Juh-_heesuz Mokuba!_" he gasped. The impact had knocked the air out of his lungs, and from the shit-eating grin on Mokuba Kaiba's face that was exactly what the boy had intended.

"Long time no see!" he chirped, backing away after their collision and giving Joey some well-needed space. Having only recently being stunned out of the calm silence of the morning, Joey winced a little Mokuba's voice. The kid always managed to sound like he was shouting.

"Yeah, no kidding."

It had been over a year since he'd seen or spoken to either Mokuba or Kaiba. It was kind of pitifully ironic how he saw his enemy as rarely as he saw his friends.

As scarcely as he'd seen the Kaiba brothers in the flesh, he had witnessed a few of KaibaCorp's new commercials for upcoming products. From what he'd seen of Kaiba, looking perfect as ever as he smirked out at him from HD television screens across Domino, he hadn't changed at all. He couldn't say the same for the younger Kaiba, however, whose wild hair now tickled his jaw.

His hair had grown since he'd last seen him, but its length did nothing to restrain the wayward spikes. He kept reaching up to wrench his fingers through the blue-black mess and brush his lengthy bangs out of his vision. Joey swore that hair was spring-loaded. Every time Mokuba raked it into some state of neatness, it just bounced back.

His face had matured also, his handsome features beginning to resemble the pixels of his brother's commercials.

"It's been ages, I can't believe we ran into each other!" the boy grinned.

'_Quite literally.' _Joey smiled back as pleasantly as he could while rubbing his battered and slightly winded torso. How Kaiba managed to keep his footing while Mokuba pounced on him, he'd never know.

"So what are you doing in the middle of the road so early?" Mokuba quirked an eyebrow.

"Ugh-" he scrambled for a response. There was no way in hell he was discussing his money issues or loneliness with a 13-year-old billionaire anytime soon. It was just too humiliating.  
>"W-well I could ask the same of you."<p>

Mokuba glanced back at the limo and when Joey looked up he caught a glimpse of the chauffeur glaring out at them, angry and confused but not surprised. Mokuba turned back to Joey and flashed his perfect teeth in another wicked smile.

"I was playing video games and I had to go on a food run. Seto's been on another weird diet lately. All he eats now is celery and lentils and crap." Mokuba made a face.

Joey couldn't help but smile at that. "Yuck."

"Tell me about it! I'm totally starved!"

Joey chuckled as Mokuba began wildly detailing the abusive food deprivation his brother was forcing him into. He was just as comical as ever and his enthusiasm was contagious. The blonde had been with him for less than a minute and he was already grinning like an idiot, his previous gloominess abandoned.

The limo was still running in the middle of the road with one of its doors hanging wide open, and the red-faced driver honked impatiently.

Mokuba rolled his eyes, glancing back to flap his hand irritably, then continued.

"So why are you out?"

Joey's gut clenched. "Uhh…just…taking a walk."

"You heading anywhere?"

"Well I-uh…" Joey rubbed his neck for a few seconds, considering his response. He didn't know if he fully trusted Mokuba, especially with how easily he wore his brother's evil smirk. The kid was a Kaiba after all, and well known to be a mischievous little brat if given the chance. Maybe it would be safer to just continue on his way and head home.

But on the other hand…he wasn't lonely anymore.

It wasn't much of a counterclaim, but it was enough.

"…No, I'm not busy." Joey smiled meekly.

Mokuba broke into a wide grin. Something about his genuine, innocent smile settled Joey's nerves, and he felt compelled to grin back. That was, until he snatched up Joey's wrist and began tugging him along with towards the limo. He was shockingly strong for his size, and even as Joey dragged his heels and attempted to tug away he barely slowed him down. Joey was sure that his hidden strength was something purely hereditary, as he could recall a moment where Kaiba, slender as he was, managed to effortlessly lift Mokuba with one hand and throw him onto a moving blimp. Maybe it was just strength supplied by adrenaline, because Mokuba seemed very excited at the opportunity of having a new companion, maybe even more excited about it than him.

When he thought about it, Mokuba probably lead a pretty lonely life too.

"Awesome! Come on, let's go get pancakes and chocolate parfait for breakfast!" He released Joey's hand, clambered into the limo and motioned for the blonde to follow him.

Joey gulped at the inklings of what looked like very shiny brown leather, and glancing around he realised that everything within the limo looked very expensive. Every time he'd participated in a duel tournament and had been on the receiving end of privileges reserved for the wealthy, he'd dipped into a lifestyle that was like another world. In that world he always felt out of place, like he was trekking dirt on the expensive carpets or leaving smudges on the silverware. He felt like he just _oozed_ lower class, and anything expensive he'd touch would be destroyed, anything he'd set his eyes on would shrivel up, as though his mere presence diminished anything of worth. He'd pushed it back and graciously accepted all he was given, relaxing on the expensive beds and cramming as much of the quality food into his mouth as he could. He'd never confided in his friends about his feelings because…

…Well, just because.

He even considered declining Mokuba's offer for breakfast, company and maybe even a new friend over something as stupid as leather seats until the kid reached out and, using his iron grip, practically yanked him inside.

It was all he could do to avoid toppling the Mount Everest of potato chips, soda and sweets piled onto the seats.

"Also I need someone to help me eat all of this before Seto sees it." Mokuba chuckled, and threw a shiny, brown package at him. Joey, still gawking at the sheer amount of junk food Mokuba had managed to buy under his brother's nose and stuff into what now seemed like a tiny limo, fumbled as he caught the bag.

The plastic crinkled in his hands, and, not recognising the packaging, he turned it over to examine the logo.

"'Burger Rings'?" He read uncertainly.

"Yep, they're chips from Australia. You should try 'em."

Joey blinked and gaped at him. "Australia?"

Mokuba's sweet smile darkened into a smirk again. "I called in some favours. You'd be surprised just how much foreign food you can find in some stores around Domino, and I'm gonna try 'em all!"

Joey sniggered at that, scanning the food and locating masses of unfamiliar packages in dozens of languages. "I believe you."

He stabled himself and sat down very tentatively, the image of stained expensive brown leather prominent in his mind, before he split open the package and began savouring the strange taste of foreign food.

Mokuba leaned up to bark orders through the partition at the grouchy driver, who grunted in response and began speeding away before settling himself among the plastic packaging and fishing out a bag of his own, his bearing the Lays logo and some language with strangely square lettering. Joey's best guess was Russian.

Joey watched the city begin to awaken as it floated past through tinted windows, and Mokuba chattered away through a mouthful of chips. "We're headed to a breakfast café down near the city square. It serves everything and is open super early too."

Joey raised a brow at that. "Even this early?"

"Hey, I'm Mokuba Kaiba, they'll serve if I tell them to serve."

Joey snorted and rolled his eyes at Mokuba's arrogant tone. It seemed as though he was inheriting his brother's ego as well as his looks. But while Kaiba's condescension grated on every nerve in Joey's body he found Mokuba's bratty nature a little endearing.

They spoke vigorously and easily as they ploughed through their snacks. Their simple, aimless conversation filled a hole in Joey. He'd forgotten how good it felt to be able to talk about utter bullshit for ages without once slipping into more mature topics like relationships or money. He was relaxing for the first time in days and fully content when Mokuba inadvertently sent it all crashing down.

He caught a glance of Joey's potato chips and suddenly remembered a question he'd forgotten to ask earlier.

"So about Australia, how's Yugi doing? I hear he's pretty huge there now that he's gone pro."

Joey froze on the spot. All of the warmth and happiness in him trickled out, leaving him cold and empty.

"Yugi's in Australia?"

Mokuba glanced up, regretting stuffing his mouth with chips as his reply came thick and garbled, very inappropriate for what suddenly seemed like a tense situation.

"Yeah, he's been there for weeks. It's pretty big news; I'm surprised you didn't know. I thought you two were like-"

"We are!" Joey snapped, and both he and Mobuka blinked at the forcefulness of his reply.

Mokuba stared at him petulantly after that, as though demanding an explanation. He clearly didn't take kindly to being yelled at over such a simple question, and from the look in his eyes Joey could tell Mokuba had taken on quite a few adults who'd been set on ordering him around.

"Well," Joey began sheepishly, rubbing at the nape of his neck again. "We haven't seen each other in a while but…I hope we are."

"Oh." Mokuba's gaze softened. There was something to his simple reply that seemed to radiate understanding.

"And Tea went to NYC, right?" his voice grew quieter. Softer.

Maybe a little too understanding. Joey hesitantly nodded and stuffed potato chips into his mouth. He'd thought that all Mokuba did was shout, something about the way his voice had grown quiet only worked to further unsettle him.

"And Tristan…"

"He's around." Joey grunted a little too violently. He paused, reigning himself in, and smiled apologetically before frowning down at his food.

He couldn't place the source of this sudden aggression. Every time he opened his mouth in response, something strangely defensive came tumbling out. Perhaps it had something to do with the way Mokuba was starting to radiate waves of pity.

He could just tell what he was thinking.

_'Poor little Joey Wheeler all alone.'_

As though he couldn't fight for himself, as though he didn't have a chance. He'd been facing that pity all his life.

It was one of the reasons his friends had been forced to drag the truth of his living situation out of him in high school. One of the reasons he hadn't even tried to contact Yugi, Tristan or Tea since they'd left.

His desire for independence had always managed to alienate him. It was a petty, stubborn, nonsensical thing, but he'd learned when he was young that if you relied on others, you'd always pay for it, and despite the years and friends that pulled him out of that lifestyle, he couldn't let it go.

Mokuba's expression was kind, concerned, and yet his eyes were burning holes into Joey and he glanced away, finding himself staring at his reflection in the partition. No wonder Mokuba was worried, he looked like something had opened him up and hollowed him out. He didn't feel like Joey Wheeler anymore.

He angled his jaw slightly and then it happened again, he didn't look like Joey Wheeler anymore. His hair was washed, his face clean, the limo was fully lit and yet it happened again. One second Joey Wheeler stared out at him, the next it was someone else, someone he never wanted to be. The white horse galloped back and forth, back and forth.

"So, Joey..."

Mokuba's oddly soft voice broke him from his thoughts, snapped his attention away from his reflection. He'd been so absorbed in it he'd forgotten where he was.

The kid crinkled plastic as he fidgeted in his nest of sweets and when he smiled at Joey it was laced with the familiar, misplaced kindliness that always made him feel ill.

"…Well recently a position just opened up in KaibaCorp for a beta tester."

_That_ caught Joey's attention. He swallowed both his deep seated awkwardness at being pitied and his mouthful of food as he asked, "Beta tester?"

"Yeah, they're game testers. They run through the games KaibaCorp makes after the alpha testers and point out any glitches or software bugs, helping to prepare them for sale. Every KaibaCorp product gets tested loads of times before we're sure they're ready. When it comes to duel-related stuff, usually Seto does it alone, but on our latest product he wants public input to get it perfect. One of our betas recently dropped out of the program and now we're one short."

Joey's excitement was rising with every word, but he reigned himself in in front of the younger boy. But his stomach could barely contain it, and it leapt and spun uncomfortably, performing aerobatic manoeuvres inside him. "So it's like a job?"

"Yeah, exactly. And I was wondering if…maybe you were interested?"

* * *

><p><em>Much longer chapter this time. Third chapter is almost finished, so stay tuned. Please review! - Dex<em>


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Sweet and savoury mingled in the scent that wafted out to greet them when Mokuba swung open the door to the small café.

It was fairly crowded considering the early hour, but the people that were there were either chatting idly or shut in at booths, clacking away on laptops, and the quiet was broken as the shrill, bubbling screech of milk being steamed erupted from the coffee machine at the counter.

A pretty, petite girl with caramel skin was working the cash register when they entered. Steam gushed from the coffee machine next to her, stirring up the dark, loose curls that had escaped her hair tie, and the freckles that flecked over her complexion were as randomly scattered at the shop's customers.

Mokuba led Joey over to stand behind a lanky young man waiting for his coffee with a laptop jammed under his arm and a bag stuffed full of textbooks teetering precariously from his bony shoulder. Joey processed his brief conversation with Mokuba before they'd arrived.

A job at KaibaCorp was no doubt an amazing opportunity, and he could already tell that a million duelists would kill to get a taste of the latest KaibaCorp technology before the general public. Plus there was the job itself. Playing video games all day and getting paid for it? That was a pretty solid way to keep his shorter attention span engaged, not to mention that Kaiba was one of the greats when it came to game design.

Hell, when he was younger, some of KaibaCorp's consoles at Yugi's place had kept them occupied for hours.

But then again, he'd be working under one of his greatest rivals.

Kaiba was firm and stubborn as hell, so he doubted he'd changed much since he'd last spoken to him a year ago, and Kaiba's stubbornness was the least of his problems. He was also obsessive, cold, mean as hell and a little bit crazy.

_'Who knows the kinda crap he'd put me through?' _Joey fidgeted where he stood. He could already feel his indecisiveness crawling in.

If he pushed aside the fact that Mokuba had clearly offered the job out of pity, as far as he could see it, the only downside was Kaiba. In the past working with him had been excruciating, but working _for_ him?

And would Kaiba even hire him? Sure Mokuba might be able to smuggle junk food under his brother's nose, but Joey seriously doubted that Mokuba was adept at people smuggling.

The man in front of them grabbed his coffee and shuffled away, and as they approached the counter the girl working there squealed with delight.

"Miss me, Alice?" It seemed as though Mokuba's sex organs had really started kicking into action, because his entire persona changed as he sauntered up and rested his elbows on the counter to lean in close, and Joey was suddenly reminded of much smaller and slightly less seedy Duke Devlin.

She grinned down at him. "I was wondering when your next early morning visit would be. Video games again? Those will rot your brain, you know?" she sounded genuinely affectionate, almost motherly. And it seemed that Mokuba's strange behaviour that morning was even more of a habit than Joey had first realised.

He turned his attention back to the girl. She looked to be in her early twenties.

When she smiled Joey could see that her teeth were long and thin, aligning perfectly like pearly piano keys, with a neat gap between the front two. She faltered a little on her greeting when she noticed him.

"Who's this?"

"My great friend Joey Wheeler, who's in _desperate_ need of some sustenance."

Joey fidgeted where he stood as Alice unashamedly gave him a full once-over, and when she met his eyes again her next smile was complete with pouting lips and batting eyelashes. He gulped and smiled back a little uneasily.

As much as he liked attention and women, he never really enjoyed flirting. He always got flustered way too easily. In fact, he was a little envious of Mokuba's confidence, which wore away at his already depleted self-esteem a little.

_'A 13-year-old kid has more game than I do. Nice.'_

Mokuba, looking far too amused for his own good, turned back to the older girl. "The usual for two please, Alice?"

She blinked as Mokuba's voice broke her out of her coy smirk and offered him a more sheepish look as she started punching numbers into the cash register.

Joey rocked back and forth on his heels awkwardly and when he glanced down Mokuba was staring at him from under his eyelashes with a sly, mocking grin plastered on his face.

_'The little shit.'_ Joey started growling, which only seemed to deepen Mokuba's smirk.

After exchanging money with Alice, Mokuba led Joey over to a small booth next to one of the shop's windows where they sat and he switched his business face on. After facing his pity and his amusement at Joey's expense, it was a welcome change.

"Want to know more about the job?"

Joey scoffed a little. "Well, obviously. I mean, it sounds great and all but this is your brother we're talking about."

"He's really not that bad Joey." Mokuba began defensively, and then faltered a little at the indignant look he was shot with. "Well…at least not to employees."

Joey sniffed a little at that before pulling on his own business face of sorts. He'd made dealings and transactions in the past, however back then he had been surrounded by thugs and criminals.

If there was anything he'd learned about getting his way with a business dealing, it was gaining control of the conversation and asserting dominance. Mokuba was no thug and his offer was simply out of the goodness of his heart, so he doubted he'd have to utilize the skills he'd learned on the streets. However, considering who Mokuba was and the kind of power he held (not to mention the power of his brother, Joey's potential future boss) it was still pretty necessary to remind the kid he was no pushover, so he decided to invade his space a little by leaning over the table.

He tried to make it subtle, but as usual he lacked poise in every sense of the word and ended up jammed his elbow onto the table so hard the saltshakers clattered.

He gritted his teeth a little in exasperation and when Mokuba's eyes flitted down to his arm, his lips were pressed together like he was holding back a laugh.

Joey shook it off and continued. "Okay first off, I need to know what kinda game we're talking about here."

"Well…" Mokuba began. When he spoke his voice sounded strained, and he was avoiding Joey's eyes like he was nervous, which in turn made Joey feel a little uneasy.

"Am I working some kind of console? A duel robot? What?"

Mokuba's long, hesitant pause was grinding on Joey's nerves by the time he finally spoke up again. "You remember when we played the Legendary Heroes game in the virtua pods at Seto's lab?"

"Yeah. To save your brother from those five creeps right?"

The memories started flooding back. The game had been exhilarating to say the least; unlike anything he'd ever played before. It had served as a virtual doorway into Kaiba's creative mind, so it was as strange and thoroughly creepy as expected, which was just another aspect that added to the game's fascination. But once those jerks had taken over, it had become a prison.

He glanced back at Mokuba, who was still avoiding his eyes, and the implications of what the boy said sunk in, and he sat up in alarm.

"Are you telling me I gotta play that again?" he shouted, breaking the quiet of the morning and earning them a few worried glances from around the shop.

Mokuba hushed him frantically, sinking low in his seat to avoid the confused stares being shot their way. "Not the exact same game. Because it was tampered with, Seto reworked it-"

"But I still gotta upload my mind into a digital world, right?"

"Well…yeah…" Mokuba shifted in his seat uneasily.

"No way! Do you remember what happened last time?"

It was a haunting sensation, having your psychical strength rendered useless while your mind was in the virtual world, and Joey could still vividly remember the terrifying feeling of complete helplessness as he was eliminated from the game. All duels left you feeling a little psychically exhausted, but when he surrendered his Red Eyes Black Dragon to protect Mokuba from the Mythic Dragon's attack, the way it drained him was shocking to the point of where it reminded him of a Shadow Game.

Up until the moment the Big Five were defeated, his mind was suspended in nothingness. According to Yugi, he was gone for about 7 minutes before Princess Adina transformed into the Mystical Elf and brought him back, but floating in the black expanse of virtual emptiness, it had felt like weeks.

He shuddered from the memory and shook his head furiously.

"I'm not going into that again. Sorry Mokuba, deal's off. I'll just find myself some other job."

"No! It's fine, really!" Mokuba was the one raising his voice now, and he winced a little as the café once again became their private audience.

When he turned to Joey again, he was pleading. "I'm a beta tester as well. I've been playing since before the public testing opened, and the whole game is different. The only reason it went wrong last time was because it was reprogrammed by the Big Five. Seto's been working on this new technology for so long, there's no way he'll give up just because a couple of sickos interfered, he wants to make it perfect and he's almost there!

"Please, one of the reasons I asked if you wanted the job was because I get pretty lonely playing the same thing over and over by myself, and I wanted someone other than a bunch of strangers to work with. If it's too intense you can just drop out like the last beta, but can you at least give it a try?"

Joey sniffed and leaned back in his chair as he thought about it.

Sure, his previous experience with the Legendary Heroes game was thoroughly unpleasant, but if Mokuba was right and that was simply the doing of the Big Five, then surely it would be different this time. Mokuba had experienced the same vast emptiness of the virtual world as he did when he sacrificed himself for his brother, and even with that shocking experience, he was ensuring Joey of the game's safety. And surely if some 13-year-old kid could handle it, so could he.

Plus Kaiba must have been convinced of the reprogrammed game's security if he allowed not only public beta testers but also his own brother to play.

Like Mokuba said, he could always drop out, and if he pushed aside the Big Five's interference and the creepier aspects of the game, it was a genius program, and an amazing experience. An experience he would be getting paid for.

_'Speaking of which…'_

He nodded at Mokuba. "Alright, I'll think about it. Second thing I gotta know, how much am I getting paid for, here? Because I heard that game testers get barely any bank."

"Well usually, but considering the kind of system the virtua pods are, the physical and mental exertion that comes from playing, and the fact you'll be working for KaibaCorp, you're gonna get paid a lot more that regular betas." Mokuba assured him.

"Alright, how much are we talking, here?"

"Depending on how often you play throughout the week and for how long, up to…" Mokuba cast his dark eyes to the ceiling as he thought, and they flitted back down to Joey as he said, "Up to two thousand dollars a week."

Joey's eyes practically popped out of his head. "Two thousand a _week_? For playing a _video game_ all day?"

"Yeah, but depending on how much you play, it varies." Mokuba shrugged, as if it was nothing, and Joey sunk back into his seat, unaware he'd almost leapt out of it.

Suddenly, floating in virtual oblivion didn't seem so bad.

As soon as Joey began considering time he would spend in-game, he formulated his next question, and leaned across the table again, prepared to pay rapt attention to what he assumed was going to be a lengthy response.

"Okay, now I need to know what I gotta do in _detail._ I walk into KaibaCorp to start working for the day, then what?"

"Well…" Mokuba scratched at his head, thinking. "Well first you'd go up to the front desk and sign in, and then they'd give you a pass so you can access the elevators and enter the rooms. Once you're in, you get into your assigned virtua pod and you play for however long you want. You have to do a minimum of five hours of gameplay for the day, but most of the betas play for way longer. If they play for too long without breaks we actually have to eject them from the game. Ya know, workplace health and safety and all that."

Joey nodded along, listening intently. It all sounded fairly basic so far.

"And once I'm done for the day?"

Mokuba grinned. "The fun part. You fill out a report, write about your findings and record any malfunctions or glitches, or even improvements you think are useful for the game."

"Writing. Reports. Fantastic." Joey droned, grimacing.

Mokuba shrugged. "All a part of the job. It can't be all fun and games all of the time, even if in this job fun and games _is_ your job." He sighed a little and slouched over the table.

"Years of watching Seto work have taught me how un-fun creating fun is. Which reminds me, being a beta tester doesn't mean you just breeze through all the levels, write a report, then leave. Sometimes it means you have to play the same level over and over, just to note any differences.

"On this platform of gaming, recording change can be pretty hard, considering the fact that you have an almost unlimited amount of ways to respond to different things in the program, unlike in other games where you have to select a set amount of options. Seto wanted to make it as interactive as possible, so with that in mind this will probably be a bit more challenging then you think it is. The reports are pretty vital."

Joey felt a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach as a though occurred to him. "I don't need specific grades or degrees or anything do I?"

He breathed a sigh of relief as Mokuba shook his head. "Not really. You can't be illiterate, obviously, and you need to have a basic idea of how the reports are meant to be written. There's a specific structure to follow, but it's not too difficult to understand. I can help you, and you can ask for help from other betas if you want."

Joey nodded, but he discarded the suggestion the moment he heard it. Asking a bunch of strangers who were probably all skilled duelists for help? No way.

Mokuba opened his mouth to continue then snapped his jaw shut as Alice approached the table and set down two dainty porcelain cups brimming with so much foam that Joey was sure that if he disturbed it in any way it would flood over the sides. His fears were proven irrational however as Mokuba carelessly dumped a packet of sugar into it and smiled up at the waitress.

He stared at the cup for a few seconds before guessing its contents.

"Cappuccino?"

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind." Mokuba remarked absently as he poured more and more sugar into his coffee until torn packets began littering the table.

Joey watched Mokuba deflate the mountain of foam as he stirred it into the coffee, and made a face as the boy took a sip. He didn't even want to imagine how sweet that was.

Alice put his thoughts into words as she groaned under her breath.

"Mokuba that's _gross_!"

He glanced up and very deliberately slurped at his coffee, smirking around the cup as she let out a disgusted hiss.

As Joey poured a much more reasonable amount of sugar into his, she assured them that the rest of food would arrive soon. When he hesitantly asked what he was in for she replied with a sly "You'll see" before sauntering away, leaving Joey's eyes to wander down to her ass before it disappeared behind the counter.

Mokuba chuckled. "She wants you so bad."

"She does, doesn't she?" Joey grinned back. While he wasn't much of a flirt, being flirted with did wonders for his ego.

Mokuba rolled his eyes and Joey mimicked the boy's previous amused smirk before he began sipping his own beverage.

He didn't drink coffee often. Like a quality mattress, he considered it a delicacy that he had neither the money nor time for, but he could appreciate it and understand its appeal whenever he had the opportunity to enjoy it.

When he was in high school some mornings he'd choked himself on his father's crappy black coffee just for the caffeine boost to get him through the day, especially in his last few years, where he'd pushed himself to the limits to achieve final grades he'd be proud of. Before he met Yugi, high school had been nothing but a hindrance, and it was only after his life started improving that he began putting effort into his schoolwork.

In fact, it was only after his friends entered his life that he started putting effort into anything. Maybe that was why he felt so apathetic about most things in his life nowadays.

He could feel himself sinking back into the same gloomy state as before, so he shook his head in an attempt to clear it and set his cup back on the table.

With his happiness muffled, he found himself longing for a distraction, so he said the first thing that came to mind, the thing he'd been wondering ever since Mokuba's offer came to be.

"How do you know your brother is even going to hire me?"

Mokuba blinked a little at Joey's voice, which had turned from jovial to serious in a manner of seconds.

"Well I…" he began quietly, before sighing. "I don't know. He'll do almost anything if I really beg, but knowing your relationship with him he might really object to this."

"Or he'll jump at the opportunity to mess with me." Joey's lip curled as he spoke.

Kaiba's attitude towards him never ceased to confuse him. He always seemed to fluctuate between taking personal pleasure in aggravating him and dismissing him completely. Kaiba's attention was like an unflattering spotlight, it either pinpointed at Joey, enhancing all of his flaws, or it pointed elsewhere, dousing him in darkness, there was no middle ground.

With this unpredictability in mind, there was no certainty of whether Kaiba would have no interest in Joey's presence and refuse him entry into the program or if he would hire him simply to control and abuse him.

"Your brother's been pretty cruel to me in the past, you know?"

Mokuba frowned at him. "He's gotten better, Joey."

"And how can you guarantee he won't get worse?"

Mokuba paused at that, and Joey felt a pang of guilt as the kid's head drooped. He couldn't see his expression, and he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"Hey, I know he's not some monster, and he _has_ gotten better. But if I'm gonna be working for him I need to make sure he's gonna respect me. I don't wanna be his workplace punching bag or anything." Joey said quietly, rubbing his neck. So much for asserting dominance in a business dealing.

Mokuba peered up at him again. "Yeah I know, but I doubt he'll hire you just to be cruel, he'd never do something that he thinks might risk his work just to spite someone."

"Yeah, he does pretty well at that without putting KaibaCorp on the line." Joey muttered under his breath, before turning his attention to Mokuba's previous remark. "Wait, you think hiring me is a risk?"

Mokuba's hands flew up defensively. "No, not at all! It's just…well, public testing is always a bit of a risk and…" he caught a glance of Joey's bitter expression and began stumbling over his own words.

"N-no, no, I mean-"

"Nah, I get it. You guys can't trust anyone a hundred per cent." Joey tried to keep his tone light, after all, the Kaiba brothers had more than enough reason to be distrustful of everyone and had years of experience to back this reasoning up, but he couldn't suppress the contempt that seeped into his voice. Even after years and years of it, he still felt a little crushed when people didn't have faith in him.

Mokuba interrupted his thoughts with a sharp, "Joey, listen, Seto doesn't trust you, but he also knows that you're not gonna jeopardize him for no reason. If he does say no, it'll probably be out of pride or spite. In the end he's in control of the outcome, but I'll see if I can convince him to hire you. I know all of his weak spots and I can be pretty manipulative when I want to. I can't be sure he'll say yes, but I can do my best." Mokuba smiled a little before leaning over the table, and his voice became soft again. "And for the record, I trust you. One hundred per cent."

Joey blinked at him for a second before breaking into a warm smile. "Thanks, kiddo."

"So I can't guarantee Seto will say yes, but if he does are you in?"

Joey thought about the connotations of accepting a job at KaibaCorp, the risks of working under one of his greatest rivals, and weighed the good with the bad in regards to the job. Mokuba had already established that game testing wasn't all it was cracked up to be, he would probably be challenged by this new job, and there was some risk attached with submerging himself in the virtual world again. There was also a high chance of Kaiba saying no, and even if he did hire Joey, it was a gamble.

But Joey's Duel Monsters deck was full of gamble cards. And they'd never failed him before.

He grinned up at his potential new work partner.

"Yeah, I'm in."

* * *

><p><em>As usual, please review and stay tuned for more chapters to come. - Dex<em>


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